Benefits of Telehealth Services

Social Distancing Precautions

Utilizing telehealth services allows us the opportunity to provide essential services to families while reducing the number of individuals present in the home during COVID-19.

Enhances Existing Services

Telehealth services can enhance and provide efficient care for families by creating more opportunities for parent involvement and training within the child's natural environment. The increase in communication with parents and caregivers can result in improved patient outcomes and satisfaction.

Expanded Geographical Areas Served

Telehealth services allow us to provide behavioral health care to rural and underserved communities with provider shortages or limited access to care.

Prior to initiating telehealth services, we require the parent/caregiver to complete a Telehealth Consent Form. There may be additional forms, authorization requests, and timelines to be completed prior to initiating telehealth services.

For ABA services, your supervisor will conduct a telehealth consult if your insurance plan approves this service and you have communicated interest in receiving telehealth. Your supervisor will use our Program Modification Assessment tool to assess the appropriateness of this service for your child.

For Ancillary Medical services, eligibility for the telehealth services will be determined by the treating or supervising clinician during the evaluation period or following a trial session.

Remote support of in-home services: If remote supervision is being provided while the behavior technician is present in your home, the supervisor will review which items they need to observe during the session as well as get feedback from the parent/caregiver and behavior technician on goals that require support.

Remote parent consultation: If a remote parent coaching program is recommended, without the support of a behavior technician, the supervisor and parent/caregiver will work together to identify three parent education goals per two-hour session. Goals will include an active implementation component. Depending on your skill set, some child goals may be implemented by the parent/caregiver. The parent/caregiver will also have an opportunity to discuss which formal goals they would like support with during the session.

Remote 1:1 service: If remote supervision and remote 1:1 service is being provided, the behavior technician or supervisor will guide the parent/caregiver in implementing goals with their child. Typically, the behavior technician or supervisor will provide the instructions to the child, and will coach the parent in prompting and reinforcement strategies. The behavior technician or supervisor will also coach parent/caregiver education goals. The parent/caregiver will likely need to be present for at least part of the session, and in some cases, for the entire session. The amount of required caregiver participation depends on the child’s skills and needs.

Remote 1:1 Ancillary Medical (ST/OT/PT) service: If a remote 1:1 service is being provided, the ancillary clinician will guide the parent/caregiver in implementing goals with their child, to include prompting and reinforcement strategies as appropriate. The parent/caregiver will likely need to be present for at least part of the session, and in some cases, for the entire session. The amount of required caregiver participation depends on the child’s skills and needs.

ALP utilizes GoToMeeting when performing telehealth services as it is HIPAA-compliant and meets security requirements in accordance with HHS guidelines. The GoToMeeting app is accessible from any smartphone or computing device with internet access.

A computing device with a webcam and microphone are required to participate in a telehealth session. It is recommended that you have ample internet bandwidth to support video conferencing sessions. If a behavior technician is providing in-person ABA services, they will provide the necessary computing device for the telehealth ABA supervision session. (*In some cases, if a family does not have access to a device that can stream live video, consultation services may be provided via a phone call; however, this must be approved in advance by the insurance company.)

For families electing the use of telehealth, signatures verifying ABA sessions will require completing the Telehealth Verification Form for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). This form can be completed electronically.